“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(One event concerned the telegram from attorney Thomas Bernier in Roseburg, Oregon. It arrived late this morning. When Jane called him the lawyer told Jane that his client was a 27-year-old schizophrenic who’d confessed to killing a certain woman he’d met in a Seth class both attended some years ago. He had confessed to her death several times, but no one believed him—until the last time, evidently. Now he was on trial. Jane didn’t ask for details on the case, but instead explained to the lawyer something of Seth’s ideas so that the attorney could use that material in his defense, making it clear that above all Seth was not for violence, even though the prosecuting attorney was evidently trying to make the defendant sound as though it was okay to kill because reincarnation was a fact: Since we all lived other lives, no one could really kill anyone. I sent Bernier a book list. Interestingly, in the small town of Roseburg he’d been able to buy James and Cézanne and ESP Power, but no other Seth books.

(Jane hung up seemingly satisfied, but I still wonder. We did agree that there must be a least unconscious cheating going on, on the medium’s part, else why keep the Seth name all these years and speak so cleverly in imitation of Seth, who has garnered at least some sort of reputation, thus making the road easier for any other Seth? See the attached material. Jane plans to call Tam tomorrow to tell him what she’s learned, and to ask him to return the first material concerning the Massaris. [She’d also called Tam today before contacting the lawyer and the medium’s wife.]

(Sometimes I’m slow, and other times even slower. I discussed these notes with Jane when I wrote them—Thursday, July 30—and our individual attitudes toward the mail in general, which is steadily increasing in volume. Then it came to me: The two events described here certainly did speak well for some kind of accomplishment on Jane’s part—and one greater than any she’d given herself credit for. For both events obviously involved effects her work was having in that outside world we shied away from: Seth, it seemed, had even managed to make his way into a court of law, the very fabric of our society; and regardless of whether he was praised or knocked, his ideas were “officially” discussed. And the medium, Thomas Massari, was basically spreading Seth’s ideas among the so-called leaders of at least segments of our society: M.D.’s, psychotherapists, and others in the medical field. Even if, as we thought likely, all was not strictly honest on the medium’s part.

(August 7, 1981. Last night Jane was faced with a little dilemma: She felt Seth around after supper, but also had the idea that we go to bed at 8:30 and get up at 4 AM to “work.” I agreed. We started out with the best intentions, but ended up sidetracked—for Jane was so restless she couldn’t sleep at all. I got her up at 11 PM, made her something to eat and drink, got her situated in the writing room, and went back to bed. She wheeled herself back into the bedroom at about 4 AM, and went to bed with my help. I got up at 7 to paint and she slept until 10:30. She’d enjoyed her nighttime hours alone, though.

That kind of projection continues that kind of situation. You do get what you concentrate upon. I try to break up blocks of your concentration, and at various times have indeed succeeded, so that creative changes show in all areas, including Ruburt’s condition.

Thus far, however, the old habits have returned, and for all of your joint good intents the idea of bringing things to a crisis point is still far less beneficial than it might appear This does not mean such a method cannot work at times. It does mean that on the whole it is a difficult method, and in utmost honesty and clarity in that regard, I can only tell you what I have said before: regardless of how ill-founded it may seem on certain occasions, that basically speaking the situation becomes less as you pare it down in your mind, rid it of significance in your mind, say things like “Well after all, it is not that bad yet,” or in other ways turn your attention otherwise.

The main issue is of course not to project negatively into the future, for there you are borrowing trouble. With physical conditions already apparent in the present, you can at least realize that while these present you with a certain evidence, the evidence will indeed change—and can change, and is changing the minute that you realize that the evidence, while present, is not inevitably all the evidence available.